Six of the ten leading causes of death in the United States are heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes mellitus and atherosclerosis. Each of these disorders has been shown to have a nutrition related component. Contributing to the prevalence of diet-related disorders is the lack of a single, standardized process by which the public can objectively evaluate all aspects of the food choices which affects its eating patterns. At the present time there is no easy method by which the public can evaluate "how well" or "how poorly" it is eating.
The government has provided systems for evaluation of certain aspects of diet. For example the Recommended Dietary Allowances published by the United States Department of Agriculture (RDA 1989) provides nutrient allowances for good health. The RDA does not however provide an easy method for individuals to use in determining if their diets are adequate in these various nutrients. A professional nutritionist is required to complete a diet analysis and then interpret the data for the individual. This analysis involves reviewing the amount of nutrients obtained in various aspects of the diet and comparing the summation of those nutrients to the RDA. The Dietary Goals for the United States (1977) and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (1990) explain how much of various nutrients an individual should consume and recommend the number of servings of food to eat to obtain the required nutrients. However, these goals and guidelines again do not provide the means for an individual to know if particular food choices give the appropriate amount of nutrients.
In summary, the three dietary recommendation sources cited above do not provide an individualized process for evaluating food choices. Further they require the help of a skilled professional to interpret the results. In general, an individual, unless trained, cannot comprehensively evaluate his diet based on these dietary recommendation sources.
In contrast to the above the present invention can assist an individual in evaluating food choices. Further, it incorporates the dietary recommendations and principles cited in the above methods so that an individual can evaluate food choices and how well the individual's diet is meeting the various federal/national recommendations.